Federal judge dismisses lawsuit against R.I. over foster care

Federal judge dismisses lawsuit against R.I. over foster care

In a 108-page decision, U.S. District Judge Mary M. Lisi granted a motion to dismiss the case, which defense lawyers had filed on behalf of the defendants, including Governor Chafee and others sued as representatives of the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families.
The defense had filed the motion in the aftermath of a 16-day trial, following more than six years of litigation brought by the plaintiffs with support from Children’s Rights, a New York-based child advocacy group.
The group’s lawsuit, filed in 2007, accused DCYF of violating certain constitutional and statutory rights afforded to all foster children under federal law.
The agency, the plaintiffs alleged, had failed to provide adequate foster maintenance payments and mandated levels of care and it hadn’t addressed high levels of “maltreatment.”
Those deficiencies, and others, had failed more than 1,800 children over the past six years, according to the lawsuit.
But the plaintiffs’ lawyers did not present testimony on any specific cases beyond the experiences of the two plaintiffs identified as Cassie, who was 17 at the time of the trial, and Danny, who was 11.
Lisi, who heard testimony in late 2013 and early 2014, found there was “nothing to suggest” that DCYF’s foster care harmed either one of them.
“…a review of the circumstances of Danny’s and Cassie’s history, placements, treatments, and services,” says Lisi’s decision, “does not support the … plaintiffs’ claims that DCYF’s acts or omissions caused any harm to either Danny or Cassie, that DCYF subjected them to unreasonable risks, or that it deprived them of their constitutional rights.”
One of the many ways that the state had failed Danny and Cassie involved their exposure to siblings in foster care, according to the suit.
Case files, they alleged, showed no documented visits between Danny and his brother between September 2006 and October 2007. The suit alleged that Cassie hadn’t been reunited with her sister after the two girls were placed in custody in separate homes.
But Lisi found that “none of the evidence presented during trial … supports” the contention that the two plaintiffs’ difficulties were “solely, if at all, attributable” to their experience in foster care.
The plaintiffs also alleged that DCYF had not properly adjusted “basic foster care maintenance rates” — payments to cover food, clothing, shelter, and other reasonable costs. The rates have not been increased in more than a decade, even to adjust for inflation, say the lawyers.
But Lisi was not convinced by the testimony presented at trial. The calculations did not reflect the principle of economies of scale, says her decision.
Ira Lustbader, the associate director of Children’s Rights and one of the lead lawyers for the plaintiffs, said that the organization believes “the court has erred in its ruling.”
“It has denied abused-and-neglected kids any relief from one of the country’s most dangerous and broken foster care systems,” Lustbader said.
Children’s Rights is considering its options for appeal, said Lustbader.
He said his description of the system as dangerous is based on child maltreatment, reliance on institutions rather than family foster homes, heavy caseloads carried by caseworkers and slowness of investigations into situations of alleged abuse.
DCYF’s deputy director, Kevin Aucoin, declined to comment on the decision, referring a reporter to the office of Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin, who lauded Lisi’s decision and also emphasized the “vital importance” of child welfare and caring for abused and neglected children.
“The care of these children is one of the most important responsibilities of the State,” Kilmartin said.